Laissez Faire
by ai no monogatari
Summary: What will Gaara do when Matsuri is forced away from his existence?
1. Chapter 1

All characters belong to Kishimoto - except for Azazel. A special Thank you to Pure Red Crane for helping me beta this!

Chapter 1

The hot sun glared from above the endless dunes of Sunagakure. Gaara glared back at it, his striking crimson hair reaching up towards the sky and challenging its strength.

It had only been a few months since he had changed; sometimes he still thought about Naruto, his old friend. He wanted to change, not grudgingly or out of self-pity; Gaara had always wanted to be loved by others, he just didn't know how. Now, he had a new path, a new attitude and new responsibilities…

"Gaara-sensei!"

Gaara looked down to see his student racing towards him, out of breath. It appeared that she had finished her training early today.

"Matsuri," He nodded.

She peered up at him with a wide grin across her face, dirty hair, scarred face and tattered clothes; she would make a fine shinobi.

The day was over and the sun had almost completed its journey across the sky, leaving a trail of darkness in the wake of the sandy sea. Gaara looked towards his student, "Enough."

Matsuri understood. Gaara appreciated the fact that he had complete dominion over her. Of course, he was not an abusive teacher, he could never hurt Matsuri. Although, Gaara always made it clear that he was the one in charge and not her. Unlike her usual happy-go-lucky-self outside of class, while he was teaching her, she listened carefully to his every word, how he moved and spoke; Matsuri looked at each action carefully and seriously without taking it for granted. This could possibly be how Gaara became benevolent towards her.

"Matsuri."

Her head jerked upwards, "Yes, sensei?"

Gaara rarely spoke so casually around her, especially during training. But class was over and Gaara had something very important to tell Matsuri.

There was a long moment of silence. Gaara stared at the ground; the shadows hiding his face.

"What if someday…we weren't together? If I were…somewhere else."

Matsuri's joyful expression turned into sadness and despair.

"Are you leaving, Gaara-sensei?"

Gaara couldn't remember a time when he had felt so nervous. Recently the village council had been discussing the unique arrangements involving Gaara's siblings and their students. It was…expected…that Gaara wouldn't have any students; in fact, it was almost pre-planned. Matsuri's last-minute decision surprised a lot of people, and it certainly caused the council quite a shock.

"Gaara could never properly teach someone," they said judgmentally.

"He would sooner kill the poor damsel," they said.

"We should immediately transfer her to a safer location where she will never have any more contact with Gaara of the Sand," they said.

Gaara was shocked. They were taking Matsuri away from him because everybody still thought he was a monster.

"Starting tomorrow…you are going to have a new teacher."

There was another moment of silence, except this one was longer than the last.

Tears began to well up in Matsuri's eyes; although, she refused to show them. She peered up at her sensei. He was staring down at her with the same posture and expression as usual. When she looked closely, she could see that his fists were clenched so hard they were white. This was difficult, but not impossible for her to see due to the residue that had built up in her eyes. She didn't know why she started crying. The idea of angering Gaara and causing trouble certainly made Matsuri sick. She and Gaara were very different people. Gaara wanted a student who was strong and brave, like him; not a silly weakling who twitched at the sight of a sword.

"It was…fun. I don't regret choosing you, Gaara-sensei. I'll never forget you."

Gaara's fists were still clenched tightly, and if it weren't for his protective sand then surely he would have broken through his own skin with his nails.

'Matsuri…you've enjoyed our time together…' Gaara felt needed. He felt needed and loved by his own student, and now the sand council was tearing that precious relationship away from him.

'You knew, Gaara…You knew you could never have this…not permanently at least.' a voice in Gaara's head whispered.

Gaara still had his friendship with Naruto and the bond with his siblings. But with Matsuri, somehow he had begun to look at her differently from his other newfound friends.

But it didn't matter.

She was gone. Gaara could no longer teach her and that…the council wouldn't even allow him to socialize with her.

Their friendship was over.

And he could never get it back.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Goodbye, Gaara." Matsuri cooed.

Her informality towards surprised Gaara; she had never called him by his name alone. He didn't mind it actually, being called without a title soothed him; Gaara hated the spotlight. But what he hated the most was the idea of his only student being forcibly dragged away from his existence.

The two of them stood inside of the Kazekage tower waiting for Matsuri's new teacher to arrive. The atmosphere was deathly silent for the past several minutes. Gaara wondered how much more of this he can take. How much time did he have before she was extracted from his presence?

Suddenly, a bulging figure shuffled towards the pair, disturbing the two from their thoughts. "I'm here for Manami," the man grunted.

"Matsuri," Gaara quickly corrected him without hesitation.

The man peered up from the ground to look Gaara in the face. His expression squinted against the sun, and with his half open mouth appeared twisted.

"Oh, so _you're_ the behemoth who's been philandering Masami, huh?"

Gaara ceased to correct him on Matsuri's name again, mostly because he had just been called a behemoth and accused of fondling his student. It took every ounce of his strength for Gaara to not execute him right on the spot, and even more to maintain his calm exterior.

He felt a tug on his shoulder; Gaara brought his face down to Matsuri's level.

"What does Phil-land-der-ing mean?" she whispered.

"Never mind…" Matsuri was too innocent to know.

The bulging man began to roar with laughter. His belly juggled as he threw his head back in hysteria. Gaara wondered what in the world could be so funny.

"So, yea…I'm her new teacher; nice to meet y' all."

The pair was speechless as the man stood before them, obviously waiting to take his new student into custody; his eyes were half-lidded and his was mouth curved into an exaggerated smile. Gaara thought he was going to be sick.

"My name's Azazel," he grunted.

Looking down at Matsuri, she appeared to be content. He was mostly worried about her, although she wasn't reacting to the situation.

"So, uh…yea, we can start any day you want. I don't have the curriculum right now, but uh…we can just kind of...train, or something. I suck at ninjutsu, I hate genjutsu, so I'm not teaching that, and…I guess I'm ok at taijutsu, but I'm not a professional or anything, y' know?" Azazel huffed out a few more laughs after finishing his speech.

"All registered instructors are supposed to have an acute knowledge of ninjutsu, genjutsu and taijutsu. It is also recommended that you prepare lessons before the beginning of each class, otherwise you cannot teach." Gaara stood motionless and expressionless after finishing his speech.

Azazel jabbed a bloated finger into Gaara's face, "You think you're better than me? She's _my_ student now, and there's nothing you can do about it! I can do whatever I want with her; you hear me you lusus naturae?"

Matsuri peered up at her former sensei with wide eyes. Gaara knew that she couldn't completely understand how this man or the other villagers portrayed him, but he knew that by looking into her eyes that she was deeply worried. How exactly this man planned on teaching Matsuri was beyond Gaara; whatever happened next was fate's decision.

And then, Gaara was left alone inside the tower while watching his precious friend walk away like a lamb to the slaughter.

000000000000000000000000000000000

Azazel's name sounds relatively similar to Azuma; I promise the two have nothing to do with each other, haha! I also have nothing against chubby people - Choji is awesome.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The lump in Gaara's throat didn't disappear even after he got back home. He had used his sand to carry him most of the way there because he didn't want anyone to see the expression on his face after Matsuri left.

He went straight to his room where he could mourn in solitude without being disturbed. Gaara felt as if his world was crashing down around him. His once twisted mind that had grown to be tranquil was now once again experiencing the same horrible pain and agony that he had abandoned so long ago.

There was a slight knock on the door, "Little brother? May I come in?" It was Temari.

She was probably bringing him food. Suddenly, Gaara remembered that he had forgotten to eat lunch today, and someone had noticed. Refusing her wouldn't be an option.

"Enter," he commanded.

The door clicked, slowly creaking open until it was slightly ajar. Temari peeked through the crevice.

"Gaara?" She spoke in a discord voice, "Are you ok in there?"

"Hmph…"

Gaara sunk his head into the wall, his back turned away from his sister. He did not want to talk about it and frankly, he didn't want to think about it either.

"I'm coming in…" Temari opened the door further and stepped inside.

"Go away."

"Gaara…" Temari sighed. She sat down on the floor, very close to where her brother was sulking, "You do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Talking will help you feel better."

"No, it won't."

In curiosity, Gaara casually peeked around himself to see if she had brought him some lunch. She hadn't. Disappointed, he turned his head back to face the wall again. He was going to live in his room for the rest of his life and never see the sunlight ever again. If he couldn't see Matsuri, then he didn't want to see anything at all.

Temari chuckled, "I didn't know that she was so important to you."

There was a pause.

He didn't respond at first, and then understood, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Temari hummed a laugh and adjusted her position. The sky's color had gone from a rose-gold to bold cerulean. Judging by the sun's position, Gaara guessed that it was well past lunchtime. If he didn't get something to eat soon, he would have to wait until dinner.

"I remember a long time ago, I felt like if I didn't have a specific special person by my side, then I would die."

Gaara felt intrigued and poked head around again. There was a time when his sister felt like dying?

"He was smart, funny and cute-looking. He always made me laugh. I couldn't get over him. He was my first crush."

Gaara had never known that his sister had a special someone in her life, or perhaps he never noticed or cared. The concept of love had always been awkward for him. He had seen members of his village throw it around in everyday conversation as if it was no big deal. Gaara never understood it.

"Temari, go talk to somebody else about your girly problems."

She only smiled, "Do you have someone like that in your life, Gaara?"

"No!" he hissed, annoyed.

Gaara could never have those kinds of feelings for anyone. It was absurd. The idea of a demon host fondling around and making love was beyond insane, even for Gaara. On that note, Gaara didn't have the faintest idea on whom his sister was referring to. Why did she even come to his room in the first place?

"Temari, what are you doing here?"

"I'm worried about you, Gaara. You haven't eaten anything all day, and then you come home and sulk in your room for half an hour. What's going on?"

Gaara tried to think of an answer.

"Matsuri's new teacher is Azazel."

Temari leaned backwards, "So this _is_ about Matsuri?"

"No, it's about her new teacher. He's a butthole. He insulted me multiple times and then took her away. I couldn't save her. I couldn't do anything."

Temari paused and looked up at the ceiling, "Azazel…Yeah, I remember seeing him around the village sometimes."

Gaara looked at his sister with curiosity.

"I usually see him either at the bar or around town. He rarely comes out, but when he does he's holding a bottle of sake. Honestly, I'm surprised that he has an interest in teaching. He doesn't seem like the 'I-have-a-desire-to-serve-my-village' kind of guy."

This didn't surprise Gaara.

Nothing good ever came out of that man apparently.

"I didn't even know he was a shinobi," she added.

Gaara ignored his sister. He couldn't stop thinking about the fact that Matsuri would be training under that drunken idiot. It disgusted him. Matsuri deserved better than Azazel. She needed someone who was going to take training seriously, someone who was going to help her rise to her full potential.

Another thought arose.

_Someone who wouldn't mock her fear of weapons._

Gaara shuddered at the thought of Azazel throwing his head back with laughter after discovering Matsuri's phobia. She was a sensitive girl; her feelings would be hurt if someone were to ridicule her.

"Azazel can't teach Matsuri." he finally said.

"And why is that?" Temari questioned him with her eyebrow raised.

Suddenly, the door swung open with great force, slamming against the wall. A large clumsy figure came marching through the entrance.

"Who's hungry? I've got beef negimaki*."

It was Kankuro.

Temari wiped her hands together and smiled, "Mm, that sounds good. Gaara, come down for lunch; we won't wait for you."

Quickly the pair raced down to the kitchen while Gaara sat and quietly contemplated the situation. Matsuri would be fine. In order for the council to even consider Azazel as an instructor he would need at least a little bit of experience; perhaps there was something he could teach her after all, even if it was useless. Matsuri could always train by herself anyway.

And then there was the weapons situation…

"Gaara! Get down here and eat your lunch before Kankuro eats it!" Temari bawled from the kitchen.

He figured he'd better get down there; some food would do him good anyway. Soon, Gaara had almost forgotten that very important matter concerning Matsuri's new situation.

*beef and scallion wrap


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

_Matsuri always comes this way when she's going home after class._

Gaara sat upon one of the towers of Sunagakure. He enjoyed being in high places, and he also knew which route his former student always took when she was venturing home.

_Gaara, you're so foolish._

That was Temari's reaction when she found out what her brother was up to.

During lunch, Temari and Kankuro had been discussing things that were beyond Gaara, not that he cared. After he had gathered some energy, Gaara's thought process reverted back to his former student.

Some days when he was training her, he had trouble getting her out of his head, but that was only when she had gotten injured or sick. Now he wasn't seeing her at all, and it was like her existence was taking over his life.

Then he told his siblings that he was going for a walk.

And that's when he was called a fool.

"I don't have those kinds of feelings for her. Can I not care about a female friend without people assuming I'm in a romantic relationship?"

Gaara repeated this to himself in his twisted brain as the day dragged on.

"I'm not in love with Matsuri."

His heart ached, and he began to feel different. _I could never love someone…like that._ Gaara couldn't allow himself to be ruled by his emotions again. Besides, even if he were to allow someone to get that close to him, he could end up hurting them unintentionally. Especially if that someone is as fragile and delicate as Matsuri; he could break every bone in her body if he wanted to.

If they were to get as close as to having children…_I would kill her._ He thought, and then shook his head. He shouldn't think of such things.

It was well after sunset before he finally spotted Matsuri walking home.

Gaara never stretched class time so long as to make her walk in the dark, it was dangerous. Suna's streets at nighttime weren't exactly the safest. Gaara spied on her like a hawk in case anything should happen to her on the way home; he wanted to know that she was safe.

It wasn't until he came dangerously close that he noticed Matsuri's expression. She was hobbling on her two feet with a twinge of pain, her face was red and it appeared as if old tears had stained her cheeks. Small whimpers escaped from her lips.

_What has he done to my student?!_

Gaara carefully floated down to where she was limping. His sand gathered in front of Matsuri, although she didn't react, she knew perfectly well who it was.

"Gaara-sensei." her voice was small.

Technically he wasn't supposed to be doing this. If someone found out that he was socializing with her, then he'd be in big trouble with the council. They might send her somewhere far away, or worse…

He didn't care, "Matsuri, what happened?!"

His expression was shocking, eyes wide and hair standing on end. He almost looked angry from Matsuri's perspective. If she hadn't known him so well, she would have thought that he was ready to kill her.

She only shook her head, keeping it low to the ground. Gaara could learn of another's past just by looking into their eyes; Matsuri made sure that hers were not seen.

Gaara noticed, "Matsuri, what's wrong?"

Without giving her time to answer he swiftly hoisted Matsuri on top of his shoulders. She obviously could barely walk by herself; Gaara let that excuse get away with what he was doing. The large gourd that adhered to his back didn't cause any discomfort for her.

"Let's get you home."

Matsuri's strength had been obliterated and she let her body collapse atop of Gaara.

Kankuro was the first to notice that Gaara had returned and that he wasn't alone.

With his mouth stuffed with beef he announced, "Welcome back, little brother," he muffled, "Who's that?"

Turning his head around in order to face the doorway, Kankuro immediately recognized the awkward little brunette.

"You kidnapped Matsuri!" he sputtered and jumped out of his seat, eyes aflame.

"No, I didn't, you stupid marionette. Shut up; she's tired and I don't want anyone disturbing her." Gaara growled has he walked upstairs, not giving Kankuro a second glance.

"Uh, is she sleeping in your room?"

Gaara had already departed, slamming one of the bedroom doors before Kankuro could get an answer.

Gaara had gone into his sister's room to lay Matsuri down on Temari's bed; it wouldn't be appropriate for her to stay in one of the brother's rooms. Gaara's first thought was that she was just very tired, it had been a long day and she needed to rest. But there was something else. Gaara seriously doubted that without curriculum Azazel could work her so hard. Not only that, Matsuri appeared to be seriously injured. This wasn't just fatigue.

"Temari," Gaara whispered to his sister.

Temari had been lying down on the couch with a book over her face when he had arrived; she hadn't noticed her brother's arrival.

"What?" she whispered back.

"It's Matsuri. I have her upstairs, but I think something's wrong. Could you go check on her?"

"Matsuri?" Temari sat up, "What's she doing here?"

"I'll explain later. Just go see if she's ok…please?"

"Uh…Okay, Gaara."

Temari carefully walked up the staircase to her bedroom; she saw Matsuri sleeping peacefully on her bed.

Gaara waited penitently in the living room; numbness flooded his body.

_What happened to Matsuri?_

The question kept throbbing inside his head. While carrying her home it appeared as if Azazel had thrown her off a cliff. She had bruises on the sides of her face and neck. She had appeared crippled and was crying like she had been yelled it. If Azazel had shouted at her then Gaara would _defiantly_ have a talk with him in the morning.

Suddenly, Temari appeared.

"Well?" Gaara questioned, "Is she going to be ok?"

Temari hesitated for a moment, "Gaara…Matsuri's been raped."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Inside of the Kazekage tower, a discussion was underway, but was soon disturbed by a certain troubled redhead.

Gaara busted through the council room doors.

"I need to speak to whoever is in charge." His voice was urgent.

Everyone's attention had turned towards who had just come through the entryway.

An angry councilman stood, "You have disrupted an important assembly!"

"Please!" Gaara interrupted, "It's about Matsuri!" His hair stood on end, and it was obvious that Gaara had rushed out the door in a hurry; he was nowhere near presentable. Judging by the atmosphere, it appeared as if Gaara was the one to blame. Although, the mentioning of Matsuri's name after everything that happened had gotten their attention.

"What do you want, demon?" the same man spoke.

There was an awkward moment of silence. Suddenly, Gaara was wondering where he should start. Were they really willing to listen?

Gaara decided to start at the beginning, "I want my student back."

More silence.

"This is the urgent message that you have for us today, Gaara?" the same man spoke, his voice sounding more annoyed by the second.

Suddenly, it was as if Gaara was no longer in the room; the council had turned their attention back to whatever they were doing and were completely ignoring the specimen standing in the middle of the area.

Gaara could have stood there all day without a second look.

"I want my student back!" he shouted.

Nothing.

Something growled inside, Gaara felt his emotions boiling over. He would not be ignored; he would not exist as nothingness.

Sand sprung up from inside of the gourd attached to his back, it loomed over the council and caused a darkly shadow to spread across the floor. It could have dropped at any second, causing numerous injuries.

Various nervous faces peered at the ceiling.

"Gaara, stop this! You're acting childish!" a brave councilman shrieked.

"Tell me why I shouldn't kill Azazel right now."

A grimly silence flooded the room. No one dared to speak and for a moment, Gaara thought that killing Azazel might not be a bad idea.

Gaara's sand, to him, was like a second nervous system; he could feel the tension in the room. At any moment, chaos could break loose and he would be the cause.

Gaara had given up that lifestyle a long time ago. Killing any one of these ignorant council members or even Azazel would be like throwing all of his promises away.

Gaara carefully let the sand drift back into his gourd.

The room settled down a bit.

"If you kill Azazel, there _will_ be consequences."

Gaara figured that.

"Why are you taking her away from me?" he finally asked.

"What do you think?" a councilman asked, brushing some of the excess grains off his shoulders with a disgusted face.

Gaara understood, "I gave up that lifestyle long ago. I could never hurt Matsuri."

After that last performance, a few of the councilmen had to stare at the floor in order to not give off an exaggerated expression.

Gaara considered his options, "Azazel hurt Matsuri."

This finally caused the council to take Gaara seriously.

"Did you see Azazel hurt her?"

"No."

There was a pause.

"Did you see him _touch_her?"

"I didn't see anything."

The council no longer stared at Gaara with concern; he had lost their attention again.

"I saw Matsuri walking home last night and she was limping and bleeding. She was defiantly in pain and I couldn't just leave her there!" Gaara rambled.

A councilman grunted, "Then how do you know it was Azazel that hurt her? She may have been attacked while walking home, couldn't she? I would have assumed that it was _you_ who that attacked her instead Azazel."

Gaara resisted saying that he was the one who had saved her in the first place. Saying that you saw someone didn't necessarily count as socializing. Although, picking someone up and carrying them all the way to your house was a different story.

"Gaara, you need to stop judging Azazel. Go home and just be grateful for what you already have. **Focus on yourself**." He paused, "And don't cause any more trouble."

With that, the council was done discussing matters with Gaara.

There was nothing he could do.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHH!"

After the episode with the council members, Gaara had driven into a corner and submerged himself into a state of anguish. His friend had been ripped away from his reach and now was in agonizing pain because of somebody else, a person whom Gaara could not kill or even lay a finger on. On top of that, nobody was listening to him due to his demonic side, which is also how this whole process began in the first place. His sense had been collapsing for some time now, and he needed help.

After some careful thinking, Gaara decided that an old friend would be the best person to see; Naruto. Gaara had no intention of visiting Matsuri or his siblings, which would only be embarrassing. Naruto would understand.

Taking a trip to the Village Hidden in the Leaves was easy enough for him, finding Naruto Uzumaki would be another matter. The hyperactive fox-boy could be anywhere. Gaara carefully let his sand glide him through the forest until he had reached the village gates; a three day trip for any normal shinobi was only a couple of hours for Gaara.

"Who are you?" A leaf shinobi stood at the gate's entrance.

"I'm from the land of winds, Gaara."

Thankfully their villages were allies at the moment, so Gaara had the privilege of slipping in without any further difficulties.

_Finding Naruto…_

Gaara peered around the strange village. He had only been to the leaf a couple of times, he was still getting used to the atmosphere. The people acted differently here.

"Gaara!" a voice shouted.

Gaara quickly turned around to see who had called him, hoping it was Naruto. Instead, a slender green figure flashed before his eyes.

_Lee…_

He lowered his head in disappointment. If there was only one other ninja in the village that was as determined and hyperactive as Naruto, it was Rock Lee.

"You came to visit me!" Lee exclaimed while sprinting towards Gaara.

Gaara's compact sand quickly masked him while dodging Lee's attempt to smoother the redhead in his green jumpsuit.

Gaara didn't like hugs.

Tumbling towards the ground, Lee landed with a thump right on his bottom, only to hop back up on his feet again with a wide grin.

The bowl-headed ninja had forgotten about their spar long ago, and now the two once rivals from separate villages had become close. Gaara was glad to admit that he could say the same for Naruto.

Suddenly, Gaara remembered, "Lee, have you seen Naruto?"

"Hmm," Lee cocked his head, "Naruto is usually be seen at Ichiraku Ramen."

Gaara nodded, "Thank you."

Abruptly, Lee bounced up and hurried over to where Gaara was, "I will show you the way!" he proclaimed excitedly.

Suddenly, the pair was walking side-by-side and if you were an observer you might think that the two were a couple.

Gaara noticed the crowds of people staring at them, "Lee, could you please not walk so close?" he said aggravated.

"Okay, Gaara." Lee answered with whimsy, and simply moved his legs and feet away from where Gaara was while letting his body stay near to his companion.

"Lee…"

"Ichiraku!" he quickly shouted, interrupting Gaara. Lee pointed to the small joint with flags of Kanji and Katakana.

The pair stepped towards the restaurant, only to find it…empty.

"He's not here," Gaara said glumly.

"Why are you looking for Naruto in the first place?" Lee asked curiously.

Gaara hesitated. Would Lee understand all of the pain and sorrow that Gaara had experienced throughout the past few weeks? He really wanted to talk to Naruto, but Lee was a friend too.

"Lee, can I share something personal with you?"

"Of course. Anything, Gaara," Lee got awfully close again.

Gaara could almost feel him breathing on his face by now. Gaara closed his eyelids in an attempt to shield them from Lee's dry breathe.

_Why must he invade my personal space?_ Gaara wondered.

"Something has happened, something terrible. I want to make it right, but I can't do it by myself, and nobody will listen to me. The elders…they hate me."

All of a sudden the two noticed that someone had walked into Ichiraku.

Gaara recognized him, "Naruto!" he exclaimed.

"Hey, guys! What's going on? Gaara, you're a long way from home." Naruto was surprised to see him.

"I came to see you." Gaara settled Naruto's confusion.

Upon hearing that last remark, Lee became disappointed, "You didn't come to see me?"

Gaara peered down at Lee to see artificial tears welling up in his eyes. Suddenly, Gaara felt bad for saying anything.

Yet, he still had a mission to complete.

"Naruto, I need to talk to you about something important. I need your help."

"Sure, what is it, buddy?" Naruto became concerned.

The three sat down at Ichiraku casually. Naruto ordered three bowls of ramen, and although at the moment Gaara was not hungry, he accepted his.

"So, what's bugging you, Gaara?" Naruto questioned him, and Lee also listened carefully.

With Naruto present, Gaara quickly became comfortable with the situation.

"Naruto, do you remember the mission we went on involving the Takumi ninja?"

"Yeah," Naruto said with his face full of noodles.

"Do you remember the small kunoichi that was trapped?"

Naruto thought for a moment, "Hmm, that awkward chick with the johyo?"

"…Yes."

"Yeah, I remember!" Naruto leapt, "She's like your student or something, right?"

Gaara nodded.

"Gaara, you have a student?" Lee questioned.

"Actually," Gaara lowered his head, "She's not my student anymore."

"How come?" Naruto slurped from his bowl.

"The village has anonymously decided to remove her from my presence on account of my…existence. They don't trust me, so they believe I can't take care of her."

Before Lee could ask why the village wouldn't trust Gaara, Naruto leapt up out of his seat, almost spilling what was left in his ramen bowl.

"That's absurd!" he shouted, "Those punks don't understand!" Naruto slammed his fist onto the table, startling everyone.

Naruto usually got overly emotional whenever an issue involves Gaara's or his own demon, and people blaming them for it.

"But…! Hold on, the village didn't react when she was kidnapped? It was the Leaf that produced the ultimate rescue. The Sand wanted both Gaara and his student dead. Why are they suddenly caring?" Lee gave a potent answer.

The other two became speechless.

Gaara had never thought about it that way, but Lee was right.

"Who was the first one to suggest separating them anyway?" Naruto grumbled, after finally sitting down and resting his chin on his hand.

"I don't know." Gaara responded.

Gaara had never wondered enough to ask, he just wanted her back.

After several seconds of silence, Naruto started giggling.

"What's so funny, Naruto?" Gaara dared to ask.

Naruto leaned over to where Gaara was sitting. Now, he was as almost as close as Lee was a few moments ago, "Is this chick your girlfriend?" Pieces of noodle and ramen broth dripped from the sides of his mouth.

Gaara's calm background turned into rage, "No, for the last time!" Gaara refused to look at anyone directly in the eye. Instead, he stared down at, the now, dirtied table.

"Sheesh, okay. Just asking," Naruto turned away.

Lee didn't say anything.

Gaara changed the subject, "I went to the Sand's council despite my reputation. I thought they could help me."

"What happened?" Lee questioned.

Gaara didn't answer and soon the two understood what he meant. The thought popped into Gaara's head that he should tell them that Matsuri was raped. Yet, he was hesitant. That piece of information would defiantly tell them why he wanted her back so badly, to keep her safe from that man…

"On her first day of class, Matsuri was severely abused by her new teacher." Gaara kept his head low out of embarrassment for her.

The other two, caught mid-slurp, suddenly jerked their heads upwards, "WHAT!?" Ramen broth spurted onto the table.

"She was beaten, possibly ridiculed and forced to participate in sexual activity with him."

Naruto and Lee sat motionless for several seconds, a disgusted expression formed on their faces.

"The council…they didn't care." Gaara could feel his anger rising again.

"So…they care if she has a jinchuuriki instructor, but they don't when she's kidnapped and almost killed or when a _normal_ person hurts her?" Naruto said "normal" as if it were cursing.

"I suppose," said Gaara, "As long as I am not in the picture, they're happy."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

_While Gaara was in the Leaf village…_

Matsuri lay motionless on Temari's bed; she had been staying at their house for quite a while now. Her entire body ached, just like the first night…

The experience was just as frightening to imagine now as it was back then. Matsuri shook with cold sweat as she thought about Azazel. Having that man as her teacher would mean doom to her existence. She would give anything to call Gaara "sensei" once more. She would give anything to be a powerful shinobi.

"Matsuri," Temari whispered as she knocked on her bedroom door.

She came in and sat down on her bed. Looking down, she saw Matsuri staring off into nothingness and her eyes wide with shock.

She stroked her short brown hair, "Matsuri," she cooed, "It's going to be okay."

Temari spotted tears streaking down Matsuri's face again, covering the old stains. She had been crying a lot lately.

"What's going to happen to me, Temari?" she choked.

Temari clutched Matsuri in her arms. Lately they had been like sisters, "Gaara's trying his best, but the village won't listen to him. He's doing everything he can to have you as his student again. He even took a trip to the Leaf Village this morning."

Matsuri sniffed, "Gaara's at the leaf?"

Temari nodded, "He really cares about you, Matsuri."

Matsuri giggled at the thought of Gaara caring for someone like her, it was an action that she hadn't done for quite a while since the incident.

Temari smiled at her reaction.

Gaara's cold exterior was part of what frightened the others so much, but to Matsuri it was what made him so mysterious and attractive. She thought about him a lot. Over time, she had started to realize her feelings for her teacher. Shocked at herself in the beginning, she knew what he was. She had seen the Shukaku before. In complete honesty, Matsuri had been so frightened she started to feel sick. The only time she could recall ever feeling like that before was when Matsuri realized that her parents were dead. It was true, in that form she had been deathly afraid of Gaara. Originally, she had chosen him because she thought he was wise. Never in her life could she have imagined it would come to this. At first, when she discovered that she was in love with him, she thought of herself to be sick in the head. _I have feelings for the vessel of Shukaku!_ Stunned, she figured something must have been wrong with her. Of course, the feelings didn't go away and mere infatuation turned into compassion. Gaara was patient and understanding, Matsuri liked that.

A large thumping noise came from downstairs. Someone was at the door.

"I'll get it!" Kankuro bawled from wherever he was.

He clicked open the door, "Yes?"

To his surprise and shock, Azazel was standing in the doorway. He had quite an angry look on his face and he seemed anxious.

"Where's my student?" he said in anger.

"Uh, she's sick. Come back some other…never."

Azazel kept Kankuro from shutting the door by barricading it with his large arm, "Where is she? I want to see her!" he attempted to shove the door open.

"No! She's sick!" Kankuro did his best not to let him in the house.

_If only Gaara were here!_

If Gaara was in the house, then he could blow this sucker away. Kankuro had never really met Azazel, but if worse came to worse, he would have to resort to his puppets.

"Sir, I'm warning you! Do not come into this house!"

"And what makes you think I can't get whatever I want?" Azazel's eyes burned like fire.

Kankuro snickered, "You spoiled little child…"

"What did you just call me?!" Azazel hollered.

At that moment, Kankuro bust through the door, successfully pushing Azazel out of the way. He tumbled towards the ground and landed on his back, leaving Kankuro trying to maintain his balance after such a shove.

"You, you're with the village council. You have them on your side. You have the whole village on your side! That's why Gaara's having such a hard time getting Matsuri back. You made it that way on purpose!" Kankuro yelled.

Azazel clumsily shuffled to his feet, "What? You didn't think that I considered this before I made my attempts? With power you can do anything! Gaara is a nuisance and he always will be!"

"You're wrong," Kankuro was almost ready to bring out crow.

At that moment, Temari was staring out of her bedroom window. She heard lots of noise coming from outside. Before she could holler to Kankuro and ask him what in the world was going on, she spotted Azazel.

Refraining from telling Matsuri who was at the door, she hurried downstairs.

"I'll be right back!"

Temari burst through the front door, "What's going on, Kankuro?"

Suddenly, Azazel noticed that the ratio was two to one. He quickly bounded away on his two little feet back to the village.

"What is Azazel doing here?" Temari wondered.

"Trying to take Matsuri away," Kankuro stared towards the ground, "Temari, I have something very important to discuss with you. I think I know what's _really_ going on here."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Several hours later, Gaara returned to Sunagakure. His two siblings and Matsuri were all sitting in the living room in an awkward stance. The room was deathly silent. Gaara noticed that Matsuri was out of bed. She must be feeling better.

"What's going on?"

"Gaara, sit down. We have a lot to talk about." Temari gestured.

Gaara set himself on one of the scattered chairs; he sat close to his student. Gaara admitted to himself that he had missed her. After being away for so long, it was good to see familiar faces.

"I have a lot to tell you guys too. It seems we both have valuable information."

Poor Matsuri was speechless throughout the entire discussion. From the beginning she had thought that her transfer was due to misconduct on her part.

Suddenly, the situation involved both Gaara and the village council.

Gaara started, "While I was at the leaf, I had a very valuable conversation with Rock Lee and Uzumaki Naruto," He paused, "We noticed that during this time, only the village decided to care for Matsuri. She has been through multiple dangerous situations, yet only when I am involved do they care to transfer her," He paused again, "This made us believe that this situation has more to do with Azazel than anyone else."

Temari chimed in, "Yes, it does seem suspicious that they would suddenly act like they want her to be safe for no apparent reason."

"The council doesn't care about Matsuri or anyone else," said Gaara, "That's where Azazel comes in."

Kankuro chimed in, "Azazel is siding with the council; he has them in his grip and he can tell them to do anything he wants."

Matsuri gasped, "Did Azazel tell the council to transfer me?"

"We think so," Gaara answered her question.

"Why?" Matsuri cooed.

Gaara peered down at his former student. To him, her expression was absolutely adorable and Gaara had to focus really hard on the situation at hand. He forced his thoughts away from Matsuri.

"We don't know. But the real question is how Azazel convinced the council to listen to him."

"They'll listen to a drunken man, but they won't listen to Gaara," Kankuro commented, quite unnecessarily at the moment.

Matsuri thought she knew why Azazel would want her as his student, but refrained from saying anything out of embarrassment.

Gaara noticed, "Matsuri, do you have something you want to tell us?" He was extra gentle with her.

Looking around the room, Matsuri could see that everyone was waiting for her.

"Azazel hasn't taught me anything since the first day concerning shinobi skills, only that he is anxious for a woman and that he hates Gaara." She blurted it out quickly and was glad when it was over.

Gaara had to work hard to contain himself. His blood boiled and at that moment and he desperately wanted to obliterate something.

"Gaara, calm down," Temari noticed, "We'll think of something."

Over the years, Gaara had gotten better at containing the Shukaku. With his family and Matsuri in the room, the worst thing that he could do at that moment was to have a meltdown.

He forced himself to be calm; he also didn't want to scare Matsuri.

"We'll all go to the village council together," said Kankuro, "Azazel should come too. All of us will testify and hopefully Azazel will cooperate," he paused, "Matsuri, you will be the most important piece of the puzzle."

She beamed upon hearing her name, knowing that she was important and useful.

Temari stood up, "Meeting adjourned."

Matsuri had gone into Temari's room after the meeting. She was thrilled that the sand siblings needed her, but also ashamed about everything that had happened to her. The only man that Matsuri had ever wanted to get close to was Gaara; having to tell everyone that she was sexually assaulted and by none other than someone who hated Gaara was the worst thing ever.

"Matsuri," her name was called.

She peeked around to see her former sensei standing right behind her. She hadn't heard him come in. Matsuri hid her face in case of potential tears had started to spill.

"I won't hurt you." Gaara's voice was considerate.

Matsuri shook her head, "That's not it."

"Then what?" Gaara got closer to where she was standing.

Matsuri and Gaara were the only two people in the dark room and with Gaara standing so close to her, Matsuri started to feel shy.

"I'm sorry. It's just that…everything is happening so suddenly for me."

"You shouldn't have had to go through this. I should have protected you better." Gaara stroked Matsuri's cheek with his fingers.

She twitched and looked down at the floor. She had never been touched by Gaara before, the action was unusual.

Gaara flinched slightly after realizing what he had just done. Touching her was automatic; he wasn't even thinking about his actions upon doing them. He felt ashamed.

"I-I'm sorry." he stuttered.

Matsuri shook her head, "No, it's okay." She rested her head on his shoulder.

Gaara shivered at Matsuri's act. He kept his eyes dead set on the wall and refused to look at anything else. Fear was not an emotion that Gaara was too familiar with; he could also say the same thing about the feeling of love.

Matsuri continued to nuzzle her face into Gaara's shoulder.

"Matsuri, what are you doing?" the question shook his voice.

"I've missed you, Gaara-sensei." she hummed.

He hadn't been called 'sensei' in a long time.

"I missed you too, Matsuri," He couldn't lie to her.

Gaara soon got used to the feeling of Matsuri on his shoulder, although her hands she were still kept close to her side. Gaara let his head drop onto hers; her hair was tangled and unwashed, but he didn't care. She was beautiful.

Matsuri swiftly wrapped her arms around Gaara's neck and leaned in closer. She had never been this close to him before, but at the moment, anything seemed possible. Matsuri quickly reached up behind Gaara's head and pulled him down; she liked the feeling of his scratchy hair. Gaara went down, Matsuri went up and Gaara got his first kiss.

"Whoa…"

Kankuro had decided to see what was taking so long by going upstairs to find Gaara, only to find his little brother in romantic embrace.

Gaara skidded backwards, meanwhile his sand flared up. He bolted out of the room flustered and angry that his brother had found him.

Kankuro lifted a finger, "Hey, uh, if you guys need some alone time…"

"Shut up!"

Gaara clamored through the house until he made it to the backyard where he could sulk in his embarrassment.

Matsuri was left alone in the bedroom, all red in the face and trying to hide it.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Gaara sulked for about twenty minutes behind the house before Temari finally came out to talk to him; Kankuro refused to deal with him at the moment.

He was found squatting in the sand with his back turned towards the house so that Temari could not see his face.

"Gaara," she insisted, "We _need_ to talk."

He ignored her.

"This is getting out of control," she continued to speak.

Gaara covered his face with his hands. He was never one to cry, although at rare times he did, refusing to let anyone see. In his mind, tears and manhood did not go together.

"Let Azazel have Matsuri."

"What?" Temari's face turned to shock.

"It wouldn't matter. Whether I'm teaching her or he is, it would be the same thing. I'm no better than him, or worse. Let him have her."

Temari's mouth hung open, "Do you care about her, Gaara? Do you care if she dies?"

Gaara considered this, "Yes. I care about her. I care if she's sick or dying. I care if somebody hurts her or takes her away. I care if she becomes a full-fledged shinobi."

"Then," Temari paused, "You _do_ love her?"

Gaara kept his face covered with his hands. Considering his feelings would be insignificant, it was obvious how he thought of her. When he first started teaching her, Gaara thought he had made a friend. As he continued, he became even more concerned about her welfare. When she left, he couldn't stop thinking about her. During the meeting, Gaara had trouble focusing. Then that other thing happened…Romance or even basic emotions were not a part of the standard shinobi curriculum; Gaara knew and lived that way all too well.

"I'm disgusting," he finally said.

There was no denying it.

Temari didn't comment on that last statement.

"Tell me this, Gaara," she finally said, "Would you express your feelings towards Matsuri in the same way Azazel did? Or would you take a different route?"

Gaara looked up from his hands,

"Azazel doesn't love Matsuri, he just hates me."

"Exactly," she finished.

Gaara slowly made his way back into the house; he didn't exactly agree with his sister, but he couldn't lie in the dirt all day. He was hungry. Gaara went straight for the kitchen. Kankuro was right there waiting for him with arms crossed and an angry look on his face.

"What?" Gaara smirked sarcastically.

"Matsuri left." Kankuro's voice was bitter.

"Good," Gaara commented without a second thought.

He reached into the fridge to found leftover yakitori in perfect condition, just waiting to be eaten. Taking two skewers out of the fridge, Gaara paced around the kitchen, eating his food. He didn't bother heating it up.

Kankuro snickered, "Bro, you're a real messed up case, you know that?"

Gaara peered up at him with his mouth full, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Kankuro slowly walked towards his brother. Swiftly, he yanked one of the skewers out of Gaara's hand.

"Now, what are you going to do?" he teased.

"I'm going to detach your hand from your body in less than five seconds if you don't give that back to me."

At this point in the conversation, Gaara was beginning to become very irritated. Kankuro held the skewer at his eye level. "And you would do that because you want to eat it, right? You love this yakitori and you would do anything to get it back?"

Gaara didn't respond; he was thinking of how stupid and pointless this conversation was.

"Give me my food, Kankuro," he finally said.

"Nope," Kankuro didn't budge.

Gaara didn't want to hurt his brother, and although it was pointless teasing, he didn't appreciate Kankuro taking things away from him without asking.

After several minutes, Gaara was finally given back his chicken skewer.

"Here," Kankuro sighed, "You don't understand…"

Gaara took the skewer curiously. Suddenly, he wasn't hungry anymore, "Understand what?"

"It's okay to want something that rightfully belongs to you," Kankuro said smiling.

Gaara held the yakitori speechless.

Kankuro rolled on his heels as he spoke with his brother, "When I was younger, there was this punk that always picked on me. I got revenge later on, of course. But at the time I was really angry. When I tried beating him up, I got in trouble. I was told that everybody has their free agency and that I needed to respect him because everybody's different. This kid could do whatever he wanted and he never got in trouble. Do you know what I did?"

"What?" Gaara listened.

"I didn't buy that crap. Everybody expected me to behave myself because I'm the son of a Kazekage, yet when somebody else ticked me off, I couldn't just sit there and watch them tear me down. That's called 'character,' Gaara. Nobody should keep their mouth shut and let everybody step on them. If they're so big on differences and respect, maybe they should show a little respect for the ones who are different."

"What are you saying?" Gaara finally asked.

"I'm saying you should go and tell that council what you want. Don't buy their crap, and don't let them take away Matsuri!"

"What do you think I've been doing for the past month?" Gaara shouted, "I told you they won't listen to me! Nobody will listen to me!"

"That's why we're going together," Kankuro paused, "Oh, and uh, I invited those Leaf ninja guys to tag along too."

"You what?"

"Naruto Uzumaki and Rock Lee, the dude with the green leotard; I think that Lee guy has a little crush on you, Gaara," Kankuro chuckled.

Gaara ignored that last comment.

"By the way," Kankuro had one last thing to say before he ended his speech, "Go visit Matsuri; apologize to her."

Kankuro left the kitchen.

Gaara had time to go over his thoughts, but only one thing kept rolling around in his mind.

_Matsuri_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Only a couple of days later the sand siblings, Matsuri and Azazel were all comfortably seated inside of the Kazekage tower and facing the council. All of them were more than ready to tell their side of the story. Due to the fact that there was no current Kazekage at the moment, it would be the council's ultimate decision on who was right and who was wrong; Matsuri's fate ultimately lay in their hands.

"I thought those Leaf guys were coming," Temari whispered in Kankuro's ear.

"They'll be here. They said they would."

Truth be told, Kankuro was a bit worried. It wasn't like he didn't trust the Leaf, but it was already five minutes past the hour and they still hadn't come.

Like the first day he had to tell Matsuri the news, Gaara felt profoundly troubled. It was highly unlikely that anyone in the village, especially the council, would side with him in a heartbeat. They may not even believe his story like the first time, even if he was telling the truth. Thinking about the situation now, Gaara became deeply grateful that he had his siblings and Matsuri with him and in any minute now, perhaps Lee and Naruto too. With them it would prove that he was telling the truth.

Matsuri had to force herself not to cry. Since the day she and Gaara had shared their kiss, she had been feeling rather gloomy. Kissing was supposed to make you feel good and happy. Gaara had seemed aroused by their intimate contact at first. Matsuri distinctly remembered when she pulled his head down he had closed his eyes and parted his lips allowing her to enter. She really had thought that he was enjoying it due to that fact that he hadn't pushed her away. It wasn't until Kankuro interrupted them when he then started acting strange. After she heard Gaara shouting Kankuro, Matsuri decided to leave. Unthinkingly she had starting crying too. Her feelings had been hurt.

Suddenly, the council room doors burst open. Flashes of orange and green bounced through, "Sorry we're late! We couldn't find the right room, so we just opened every door!" Naruto shouted and beamed with excitement.

"Gaara, your room is fantastic!" Lee commented.

The pair took seats beside Gaara, glad to be next to their friend.

A councilman stood and suddenly the room became silent, "Finally, we can begin," he said, "Azazel," he paused, "Why don't you start?"

The atmosphere dramatically changed.

"Gladly," Azazel stood.

While sighing with grief he began his speech, "I tried my best to protect Matsuri. I did everything in my power to protect her from that ghastly beast, Gaara of the Sand."

Naruto was about to jump out of his seat with anger, but Gaara stopped him, "Wait, our testimony will come later."

Naruto slowly sat down, fuming.

Azazel continued, "Transferring her was the only option. I just couldn't let her remain with the demon host in suffering," he paused, "But even then I couldn't defend her from the monster. I was denied access to watch over her after Gaara stole her away from me in the middle of the night! Then I personally witnessed Gaara attempting to harm Matsuri. I have photographic evidence."

After listening to Azazel's gristly speech Gaara had heard enough; although knowing that he had been photographed got his attention.

_But, I've never hurt Matsuri…_

Azazel reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a flimsy white piece of paper. He handed it to the council with a desperate look on his face.

Kankuro raised an eyebrow.

The council carefully examined the picture for several minutes. Nobody said a word as they were evaluating the 'evidence.'

Finally a decision was made, "Yes, this photograph is valid. Gaara cannot be trusted around Matsuri. She will continue to train under Azazel."

"WHAT!?" Naruto jumped up, "You haven't even heard our side of the story yet! What does that stupid picture prove anyway?"

Naruto bounced over to the council's desk, "Let me see that!" He yanked the picture out from the councilman's fingers.

There was a long pause. Naruto's expression changed dramatically.

"Uh, Gaara," His voice was calmer. "Didn't you say that this Matsuri chick is your student?"

"Yes, she was. Why?" Now Gaara was very curious.

Naruto started to snicker, "Look at this," he handed Gaara the picture.

Gaara was prepared for anything. He had never in his life wanted to truly hurt Matsuri, but Azazel could take anything and twist it enough to make it look bad. When he finally saw the picture, Gaara was mentally thrown into a state of shock. He was holding a picture of himself and Matsuri inside of Temari's room kissing.

_Azazel was been spying on us…!_

Gaara sat with his eyes wide and his lips closed. He didn't want to say anything and he didn't know what to say either. Kankuro and Temari leaned over attempting to see the picture. Their reaction wasn't much different from Naruto's, although Kankuro had already seen it all.

"So she _is_ your girlfriend," Naruto commented.

Azazel sat with his arms crossed and a big smile on his face; pride oozed from his posture.

Gaara hid his face in his hands from embarrassment. The council, Kankuro, Temari, Lee, Naruto and Azazel had all witnessed his private moment with his student. This wasn't something that he wanted to broadcast to the entire village.

A councilman sighed, "Why don't we take a recess."

That sounded like a good idea.

The sand siblings, Matsuri and the boys from the Leaf all sat outside of the Kazekage tower. Azazel was nowhere to be seen at the moment, but nobody cared what he was up to anyway.

Naruto was the first to speak, "Hey, Gaara. Uh, I don't care if you wanna girlfriend. Just let me know when you're not single, alright? We're friends here."

Gaara didn't respond.

Naruto nudged his shoulder, "Gaara?"

"No!" he shouted at his friend.

It was obvious that Gaara didn't want to talk to anyone at the moment, so everyone just kept their mouths shut. Naruto began to sulk.

Temari looked over at Matsuri. They were both girls, so they shared a special connection that the boys just couldn't understand. She knew that Matsuri had been deep in anxiety regarding this whole situation.

Temari laid her palm on Matsuri's shoulder, "Come with me," she gestured.

Matsuri quietly stood up and followed Temari. A few curious looks shot up, but nobody asked where they were headed.

Temari led Matsuri behind the Kazekage tower, away from the boys. She held both her hands the way girls do when they're about to share something personal with each other.

"Matsuri, you can tell me anything."

Matsuri nodded, "I'm okay," she whispered.

Her response was soon proven false. Fresh tears trickled down her cheeks and she began to whimper.

"Are you mad at Gaara?" Temari asked.

Matsuri shook her head.

"It's okay if you are. He can be really complicated sometimes."

Matsuri shook her head again.

Temari paused, "If…this is about Azazel, no matter what happens all of us will make sure you stay safe. We promise." She was serious.

"Azazel, he scares me," Matsuri forced herself to stop crying, "I want to train under Gaara-sensei, but he doesn't want me." She lowered her head.

"Matsuri," Temari raised her voice, "Don't ever believe even for a second that Gaara doesn't care about you. He does care. He just has trouble expressing his feelings sometimes," she paused, "He loves you, Matsuri."

Matsuri shook her head, "No."

"No?"

"When I left your house, I heard him talking to you. I didn't mean to hear…but, I heard him say that Azazel could have me."

Temari didn't say anything.

"He's also mad at me for kissing him." She hid her face.

Temari smiled.

_How could any guy on this planet be mad if they got kissed by a cute girl, even Gaara?_

"Matsuri, Gaara said those words out of self-worthlessness. He doesn't feel like he has the privilege of teaching you anymore. Once he realized that he had feelings for you, he mentally dragged himself into the bottom of a hole and refused to come out. What Gaara doesn't realize is that his feelings aren't wrong. It's okay to love someone." Temari paused, "Don't tell him I told you that."

Matsuri smiled; Temari's words had made her feel better.

"Gaara's not mad at you, he's mad at himself."

The two girls shared a hug and then started their way back to the front of the tower. The second half of the debate was almost underway, and everyone would need to gather as much strength as possible.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

When the group had finally gotten back into the council room, they found Azazel snoring on his chair. Apparently he had dozed off while waiting. Snorts and grunts emerged from his stale mouth; he looked like an overindulging hog.

"Beautiful," Kankuro sarcastically commented, although nobody was in the mood for jokes.

Azazel jerked in his sleep and suddenly awoke, "What?! Who's there? It wasn't me, officer! I swear!" His eyes were half lidded, "Oh..." After realizing where he was, Azazel rolled over in his chair in order to get back into a proper seated position.

The councilmen, who had been away, shuffled back into the room accordingly, "Good," they said, "We're all here on time, so let's get started."

"Alright! Now it's our turn!" Naruto jumped up.

Temari looked over at her brother, "Gaara, would you like to go first?"

Gaara let a moment of silence drift by, "Okay."

He stood out of his chair and because a jinchuuriki was about to speak in a government office in defense of someone else for the first time in shinobi history, the room became frighteningly still.

"I love Matsuri. During the time in which I have existed, I have never thought, desired or acted to lay harm on Matsuri in any way possible in terms of shinobi skills or abuse, physical or emotional of any sort. She has been my student for exactly six months, two weeks and two days. During that time, I have used my intellectual ability by all means possible to train Matsuri in order for her to receive the honor of becoming a full-fledged shinobi, a title which she has openly expressed to me that she wishes to become. The day she was transferred was sudden for the both of us. Matsuri was unaware of the fact that her transfer was due to failure on my part, not hers."

Naruto leapt up, "Gaara, you didn't do anything wrong-!"

"Shh!" Temari hushed him.

Gaara continued, "Did the council ever inform Matsuri why she was transferred?"

The councilmen stared at each other, and then shook their heads. One stood, "Gaara, it was unnecessary for the council to inform her. One should not worry about whether or not they are obtaining a new instructor, but rather if they are obtaining the necessary learning in order to become a shinobi."

"I think not," Gaara commented.

"Excuse me," Temari interrupted, "If the council is more concerned about obtaining shinobi skills verses the actual instructor; Matsuri, why don't you let the council know how much you've learned under Azazel? We'll compare this with Gaara and that will determine the outcome."

Temari ended her last sentence with a smirk.

Matsuri flushed. She hadn't learned anything under Azazel concerning shinobi skills. If she told the council this, perhaps they would let Gaara continue to teach her, she wouldn't even have to mention the rest.

"I haven't gained any new information concerning shinobi skills while training under Azazel." She ended her statement plainly.

The council exchanged glances in a doubting manner, although everyone in the room who suspected the doubts geared more towards Azazel than the rest of the group.

"Azazel."

Azazel stood up, "Yes?" His voice shook.

"What have you been doing this whole time?" He referred to the time period that Azazel had to teach Matsuri.

He paused and scratched his head several times, "Getting ready."

"For what?" the council questioned.

"Well, uh, you see, the curriculum hadn't been delivered yet, so we've just been preparing for that." He ended his statement awkwardly.

The council then turned their attention to Matsuri again, "Matsuri, what in the world has been going on since you got transferred?"

It didn't surprise Gaara that they would believe her before they would believe him, although Matsuri probably had some further details that he did not possess.

Matsuri was afraid that it would come to this.

She took a deep breath and looked over at Azazel. His expression was menacing; he kept throwing her looks as if he was saying 'If you say _anything_ about what happened I am going to kill you!' It frightened Matsuri.

She knew it wouldn't end well if she was brave enough to speak for herself.

Matsuri remembered every moment…

_It all happened very quickly. Azazel had grabbed her arm and started tugging at her wrists. Matsuri thought that this was "training" so she slung out her johyo and prepared for battle. Azazel was much stronger than she was. He knocked her head against the ground several times, causing Matsuri to drop her weapon. Holding her down, Azazel whispered in her ear, "Say you hate Gaara of the Sand!"_

_Matsuri refused._

_Azazel continued to throw her body around in an aggressive manner, all the while shouting, "SAY YOU HATE HIM! SAY IT!" He wouldn't stop._

_Tears mixed with blood trickled down her face. At the moment, she had trouble saying anything due to all of the thrashing. Nobody would hear her if she shouted for help. She didn't want to say she hated Gaara, but what could she do?_

_"Stop! Stop! Stop! I hate him! I hate him!" she choked out, blood spilling through her teeth, she regretted every word._

_Azazel hoisted her up by her shirt collar, her feet not touching the ground, "How could Gaara love you now? You said you hate him and you do, don't you? You hate that worthless demon just like everyone else in this stinking village!"_

_"No! No!" Matsuri shook her head._

_"YES YOU DO!" Azazel slammed her head against a rock._

_Matsuri thought she was going to pass out._

_Azazel lifted his fist like he was going to punch Matsuri._

_Instead he unzipped his pants and began what he had intended to do in the first place. From that point on, the only thing that Matsuri could remember was how painful it was. She would never feel the same again._

She shook as she remembered. Matsuri scooted closer to Gaara and hid her face in his clothes. She had desperately wanted to cling to him lately. Gaara didn't mind; he carefully wrapped his arm around Matsuri in a half-hug attempting to shield her from Azazel.

"Tell the council what happened, Matsuri." he said calmly.

"NO!" Azazel shouted from across the room in Matsuri's direction, "You cling to that loathsome freak like you're his lover! I can't stand the sight of that filthy beast, but what I can't stand even more is that you cherish him of all people, Gaara of the Sand!"

Azazel swung his arm in Matsuri's direction slapping her across the face with his palm, "Vile bitch!"

Matsuri gasped, shedding more tears.

Azazel peered around the room in the realization of what he had just done. Looking at Gaara's face, Azazel looked like he was ready to welcome death. Description through mere words would not comprehend it.

Azazel bounded over to the nearby window.

"He wouldn't," Temari whispered.

Without even considering his options, Azazel leapt forward with all of his strength, crashing through the large window, throwing shards of glass everywhere.

"He would."

The noise caused most in the room to cover their ears. Shouts and cries came from below. Gaara knew what he had to do, although he wondered if he would regret doing it.

There was no time to think.

Gaara quickly leapt towards the shattered window, his sand helping him with his speed. He plunged through the broken window and swooped down towards Azazel. With one swift motion, Gaara commanded his sand to reach up behind Azazel and safely carry him up towards the window again, letting him softly land on his feet.

Azazel fumbled around a bit, wondering what just happened and why he wasn't dead yet. Many in the room were wondering the exact same thing.

Gaara grabbed Azazel's shirt collar and hoisted him above his feet, "I just saved your life, don't make a bigger fool of yourself than you already have; end this, now."

Azazel nodded nervously, blood trickled down his face.

Everyone in the room was silent.

The case was over.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Gaara, Kankuro, Temari, Matsuri, Naruto and Lee all stood at the edge of Sunagakure, watching the sun fall and the sky turn pastel.

After Gaara's heroic show, the council had anonymously decided that Gaara was not only telling the truth, but that he was worthy to continue to teach.

With everything that had happened, it was nice to just sit back at relax.

"I can't believe it's finally over," Kankuro commented.

Nobody wondered what had happened to Azazel, they were just glad that they would no longer have any problems with him, at least with Gaara around.

Naruto piped up, "I'll just be glad to get back to Konoha so I can get some ramen, I'm starved!" He looked over at Gaara, "Hey, uh, about that other thing…"

"Don't worry about it," Gaara knew what he meant, "I'm sorry I shouted at you earlier."

Naruto smiled, "Nah, its ok. I'm cool." He paused, "Hey, whatever happened to that picture…?"

"I tore it up," Gaara said quickly.

Nobody questioned him.

Gaara still wondered how in the world Azazel could've been spying on them without getting caught. Although, Gaara knew that the answer may never be resolved. It was a mystery.

Gaara felt someone tapping on his shoulder. He turned around to see Lee looking strangely shy.

"I guess I wasn't of as much help, was I?" he said.

"Nonsense, bushy-brows! You were great!" Naruto interrupted.

Gaara nodded his head, "We needed as much help as we could get. I don't regret having you be a part of this adventure, Lee."

With that, Lee grinned and he was back to his old self again.

There was only one last thing that was bothering Gaara, but he was worried about mentioning it in front of everyone else.

"Matsuri," He turned towards her.

"Yes," She looked up at him, seeming happier than usual.

"I was just wondering…if you're going to be okay."

Matsuri tilted her head, "I'm okay. Why?"

At this point in the conversation, everyone was listening; there would be no secrets.

"Matsuri, are you pregnant?" he blurted out and regretted saying anything upon the minute he spoke it.

Matsuri's eyes got wide. She blushed and put her hand to her face, "No. I don't think so."

"Good." And he left it at that.

Gaara would make sure that Matsuri didn't have any babies as long as she was under his care. The fact that he had just won her back from someone who was fondling around with her just so that he could continue that pattern didn't make him feel any better. He couldn't deny his feelings and Gaara suspected that Matsuri felt the same way about him. Even so, Gaara had no intention of starting a romantic relationship with his student, now or ever.

He looked down at Matsuri to see her ginning widely.

"I can't wait to start training with you again, Gaara-sensei!"

For the first time, in a long time, Gaara smiled; a rare occurrence. He was looking forward to training her again too.

He really did care for her deeply, even more than anyone else in Suna besides his own family.

"Yeah! True love!" Lee bounced up towards Gaara's face and planted a big fat kiss right on his lips.

Being unprepared for the action, Gaara sputtered and wiped his mouth in disgust.

Matsuri smiled.

Gaara felt a slight tug at his shirt sleeve.

After coming back to his senses, he looked down to see Matsuri pulling at him.

"What?" he huffed.

"Gaara-sensei, will you kiss me again?" She said so plainly and innocently.

For a moment all thought process came to a halt inside of Gaara's brain.

"Alright," Gaara answered with dignity.

Making a big deal out of it would only draw more attention to him.

Matsuri lifted her arms into the air allowing Gaara to lean down towards her, reach underneath her arms and lift. Matsuri was slowly raised and planted firmly against Gaara's chest. Matsuri could feel the soft rising and falling of Gaara's lungs as she rested her head upon him. She turned her head and looked at him right in the eyes. Gaara's expression was plain as usual, although if you were to reach into his heart you would know that it was about to burst. For Gaara, handling emotions wasn't easy. He would have to put in mountains of effort in order to maintain himself while teaching her.

One kiss wouldn't matter, right?

Like the first time, Gaara let Matsuri pull his head down towards her face. Gaara's eyes were closed, so he didn't see it, but soon he felt Matsuri press her lips against his and he felt like he was going to explode right on the spot. Matsuri began to entwine her fingers through Gaara's hair, and then he knew he was done. Any more affection and Gaara knew he wouldn't be able to handle it.

He slowly pulled Matsuri away from his exterior.

Gaara could feel her resistance, but eventually she let go.

Nobody dared look at the nearby crowd to see what their expressions were.

Gaara felt another hand on his shoulder, but this time it wasn't Matsuri.

"Gaara," Temari spoke, "Lets go home now, ok?"

"ok..."

"Come along Matsuri!" Temari shouted for her.

The four made their way back to Suna.

'I guess Naruto and Lee already left' assumed Gaara.

They had left without saying goodbye.

Suddenly Kankuro began to speak, "Gaara, do you think you're going to be able to handle this?"

"Handle what?"

"Teaching Matsuri, y' know?"

"Yes," he said plainly.

Matsuri nestled against her teacher's side in walking embrace.

"I love you Gaara," Matsuri whispered.

"I love you too," Gaara whispered back.

And he meant it.

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For those of you who know, yes, I did change this chapter slightly. After posting it and saying to myself, "Alright! It's done!" I looked over it once more and thought, "Hmm, that ending really stinks." - despite the heading saying 'complete'.

So I changed it, and NOW it is done; phew!

I hope you enjoyed it, and

Happy Halloween!


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